Those who invoke the Bible to defend hetero-normative and homophobic views need to understand that the text can be understood in more complex ways than would make them comfortable. There are Biblical heroes who form non-traditional families of choice, there are couples who have covenantal relationships outside the cultural definition of marriage, and plenty of examples of people practicing polygamy (although none as enthusiastically as “wise” Solomon with his 700 wives, 300 concubines, and a legendary one-night-stand with the Queen of Sheba).

What constitutes a relationship, a family, or even a life-long covenant in the Jewish and Christian scriptures is not as cut-and-dry as the opponents of marriage equality would like to believe.

What people who use it as a weapon to protect their privilege and marginalize others need to know about is that rather than being a memo dictated by God, the Bible is a collection of writings by many authors spanning three continents and more than 1,000 years.

1. The “Bible” is not the “Bible” in the “Bible.”

The Biblical canon was closed centuries after the life of Jesus. The church existed for generations before there was a Christian Bible. And even still, the text differs slightly depending on if one is Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, Mormon, or Jewish. Whether there is one Testament or there are two or three, and how many books are in those Testaments depends on which tradition one embraces.

2. The Bible is a human document.

Some believe the Bible is divinely inspired, others do not, but either way the actual writing was done by humans, the reading is done by humans (and readers make meaning), and how the words are used are determined by humans. With or without the notion of a divine presence nudging people to record their thoughts, opinions, beliefs, and desires, the obvious fact remains that the work of Biblical writing, reading, interpreting, and application is the work of human beings, and humans don’t always agree.

3. There are no original texts.

The original documents, that is, the first pieces of paper (or papyrus) upon which the Biblical authors wrote, no longer exist. The oldest scriptural documents extant today are handwritten copies of handwritten copies (which leaves quite a bit of room for human error).

4. Biblical ethics and knowledge don’t always withstand the test of time.

Biblical writers accepted slavery, child abuse, war, and the secondary status of women as common standards of their day. They assumed the earth was flat, never knew of the Americas, and had never heard of the law of gravity. Aerodynamics, quantum physics, and psychology were unknown to ancient writers. They didn’t know about egg cells or chromosomes, and didn’t even understand procreation the way we do today. Their creativity and genius should not be ignored, but what they did not know was a lot. We learn more as time goes by; we are not limited to what people knew millennia ago.

5. The Biblical texts were not written in any modern language.

The texts were written in ancient languages (sometimes without any punctuation), so translation problems must always be considered. Our Bible is a translation of copies of copies of copies of texts handwritten in ancient languages in ancient, pre-scientific cultures. It’s still fascinating and beautiful and useful, but not if used as a weapon to defend bigotry and discrimination.

Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins is the Senior Minister of Sunshine Cathedral, a progressive and inclusive Fort Lauderdale-based ministry affiliated with Metropolitan Community Churches and the International New Thought Alliance.